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Jianyu Serpentstrike
Jianyu Serpentstrike was the founder and first leader of the Lotus Group, ruling over the organization for the majority of his life til death. His progression to becoming a name whispered about the underworld of Pandaria for thousands of years to come was a long and straining process that came about from a noble beginning. Written record of the criminal legend is unheard of, his deeds spread by word of mouth to keep the mystic whimsy of the Lotus Group alive. History Jianyu was born at the very beginning of the Pandaren Empire around 12,000 years ago in the Jade Forest. He was raised in the ancient and still existing city of Dawn’s Blossom, practicing the way of the monk as his parents and grandparents did in their people’s secret effort of rebelling against the Mogu. The teachings of the wise and powerful monks were strong and taught throughout the land in preparation for any sort of attack on their new-found empire, Jianyu no exception. He excelled in the arts of chi and possessed natural curiosity that often got him into trouble as he grew. Alongside his training, he was a popular boy that had much to be happy about in the first few decades after the rebellion. He aimed to display each and every teaching the monks had taught him to show to others that did not follow the path of a monk. It was part of his proud and boasting nature that lead to this, ulterior motives at work even at a young age. He wanted nothing more than to succeed the past generation; not wanting his own being to be overshadowed by the deeds that granted his people their freedom. The Call of Wars It was in his late teenage years when the first conflict of the Zandalari Wars came upon them. Whispers of the rising battles trickled their way into the city, exciting Jianyu and inspiring him to take up the opportunity to at last battle for glory. He sneaked away from his parents; their insistence that he was not yet fully trained to be of any help not reaching the stubborn youth’s ears. He made his way into the first line of defense to his home of Dawn’s Blossom by lying about his age without a second thought. It was everything that he had hoped for, at first. The call for troll blood thrummed in his ears; Jianyu eager to prove his mettle against their enemies and make his way through the ranks to be something worthy of note. The Ways of Old Jianyu grew anxious with each oncoming day of rigorous practice; the elder monks even going as far to say that the chance of the Zandalari being able to get as far as the city were slim. This notion horrified him, everything he has risked to be here would be proven worthless. He would shame only himself by going back to his family like a dog with his tail tucked. Each and every day was agony then for Jianyu, the man praying each night to the Celestials for a chance to prove his worth without any sort of answer. In the far off distance shore to the south the Zandalari were being fought, reports coming in one after another to Dawn’s Blossom of a young girl that was barely a woman by the name of Jiang. Wild stories that could be hardly deemed true spread throughout the city, telling of how Jiang managed to form a friendship with one of the wild beasts of Pandaria: a cloud serpent. She even had named the beast, giving him the name of Lo. Tales of how the beast had savagely ripped apart trolls limb from limb flew in. How he had protected, defended, and risked his life for the girl when she was left injured on the battlefield. How he had coiled her up in his tail to bring her back to safety when the battle was lost, the serpent himself not even fully-grown. There were too many eyewitness reports to completely dismiss these claims. Even all of that was not enough to sway the leaders of Pandaria’s defenses when she came to them to plead that they ally themselves with the wild cloud serpents to help turn the battle’s side in their favor. Jianyu could not believe the ignorance of the leaders when this came to light. The chance to fight alongside majestic creatures such as them, only to be turned down because of the possibility of them being betrayed. Many of the populace agreed, preferring to sticking to the way their ancestors had done when they had overthrown the Mogu: alone. The ways of old were good, they would shout, and that they had no reason to ally themselves with beasts to combat beasts. It was too much for the risk-taker to bare, and it was here when he began to consider desertion to pursue his own path elsewhere. The Serpent's Strike Not even a week later did the trolls manage to push themselves to the large bridge on the city’s outskirts. In the end Jianyu was too late to attempt fleeing. It was completely impossible at this point to do so without being caught. He had no choice but to defend, the very thing he had wanted to do all along, with great reluctance. The battle was grim from the start. The pandaren were vastly outnumbered by the trolls and were quickly cut down one after another. The bat riders proved to be the most troublesome of all, the pandaren having no way to counter their movements in the sky. Even Jianyu was beginning to grow weary from the battle, and it wouldn’t be long before he joined his brothers and sisters in death due to the inevitable defeat. It was here that an important part of Pandaria's history came about. As Jianyu was about to be impaled by a troll's spear, he could only watch in awe as he saw Jianyu instruct Lo to grasp the troll in his talons and throw him off the bridge. With Jianyu's life saved, and the odds turning in their favor with the cloud serpent acting as their ally, the battle on the bridge was secured with only a minimal amount of lives lost. After his recovery, Jianyu was one of the first to volunteer and accept Jiang and Lo as his teachers in hopes of training his own cloud serpent. A Heavenly Promise WIP Appearance Jianyu is said to have been roguishly handsome. He wore typical clothing befitting more so of a traveling monk than a crime boss. These two facts combined made it so he was often mistaken for a simple follower of the Celestials passing through the lands. From his times of participating in the Zandalari Wars, and being one of the first to train a cloud serpent, he brandished many scars that were located on his entire body. Underneath his attire and through the scarring, his fur was painted in many bright and different colors in the shapes of serpent swirling about his form. These were painted onto his fur after many, many hours of sitting still and were considered his way of honoring the proud creatures. Demeanor Jianyu could be summed up in one word: charismatic. He inspired loyalty in many and was quick to bring naysayers to his side if able. There were times when even his natural skills of manipulation would fail him and he would have to deal with threats the old fashion way of assassination; an option he did not prefer. He was a likable individual. If one learned of who he truly was and found the fact appalling, Jianyu would be quick to weave words expertly to make anyone believe that what he did he did for justice and fairness to all. The sinful monk had few, strict values. There was hardly if anything he did not indulge himself in. Even so, there were few-to-none souls that opposed his authority in fear of retribution or simple lack of desire to out of loyalty. Legacy To this day his legend lives on in more than one ways. The heavenly golden cloud serpent that aided Jianyu in life is still alive; a credit to his kind's long life. His existence is hidden to all except for the Dragon Heads of the order. Each one has been given secret council provided by the worldly serpent and respects his decree if he so makes one. He hardly if ever interferes in a Dragon Head’s rule, but if he so gives one each are obligated to follow his command. Renshu is the only being that has total say over a Dragon Head's decree alone. Jianyu had many lovers up into his old age, illegitimate bastards of his blood were not an uncommon sight. Some of his mistresses were bold enough to grant their sons and daughters the name of their devious father, and to this day it is not unheard of to hear the whispers of a Serpentstrike. Whether they are knowledgable of their ancestor’s deeds or have followed in his footsteps unknowingly are up to debate, each case different. Category:Great Firewind Category:Pandaren Category:Characters Category:Deceased Category:Lotus Group